Au revoir ... adios ... arrivederci

After nearly 5 years, it's time to retire as the business blogger for MNN.

In the fall of 2008, President George W. Bush signed the Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP) legislation to keep the banking industry from going under, stock exchanges around the world experienced record-setting drops on ‘Bloody Friday’ and a group of writers, editors and creatives were working on launching a new website, the Mother Nature Network.

I was there when MNN.com first launched in the midst of the Great Recession, and it has been great to be a part of the amazing growth of this Internet news startup. The time has come, though, for me to move on and retire from my role as the featured business blogger for MNN. The decision wasn’t an easy one to make; it is difficult to leave a company in the midst of such growth, but it was a decision that needed to be made.

If you’ve followed my blog posts over the years, then you may know that both of my children are on the autism spectrum. Additionally, my oldest has epilepsy. Although we’ve been lucky to avoid any major medical scares over the years, taking care of two children with various special needs is time-consuming.

Unfortunately, my son has been facing some new health challenges these past few months and now homeschooling may be on our plate. Both of my kids are on fall break for the next 2.5 weeks, but the start of the second quarter may involve a new educational setting for my son and a new role for me: teacher to a bright seventh grader.

Before I leave, though, I want to take a trip down MNN memory lane. Here are a few of my favorite posts:

Although I’m retiring from MNN, I will still be writing. I’ve written since I was a little girl, and there’s no way I could just stop writing. If you’re interested in autism, please feel free to visit me at my blog, The Autism Education Site, or follow me on Twitter @mommymellie.